Meter box yoke



J. L. FORD METER BOX YOKE Dec. l2, 1933.

Filed June 8, 1931 y fwQV Patented Dec. 12, 1933 UNITED, STATES METER Box YoKE John 1.. Ford, Wabash, ind., assignor to Fora Meter Box Company, Wabash, Ind., a corporation of `Indiana Application June s, 1981.` serial No. 542,989

Claims.

The present invention relates to a yoke, the primary purpose of lwhich is to provide a -rigid mounting for a meter, or the like. `A further object of the invention is to provide means easily 5 attachable toa pair of spaced pipe ends,fsaid means being constructed to facilitate the operative connection of a meter to saidpipe ends, and further being constructed to prevent relative movement of said pipe ends. A further object of the invention is to provide a device 4of the character described which shall be extremely inexpensive to manufacture, verysimple in construction, and which shall yet materially facili' tate-the attachment of th'e structure to such p ipe ends. Further objects of the inventionwill appear as thev description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of` the'above and related objects, my invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawing, attention being called` to the fact, however, that Vthe drawingiis illustrative only, and that change may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described, so long as the scope of the appended claims-is not violated.

Fig. 1 is a, front elevation of a. yoke constructed .in accordance with theprersent invention, said yoke being shown in assembled position and associated elements being shown'in dotted outline;

Fig.- 2 is a fragmental horizontal section through'a portion of suchyoke; .4.,

Fig. 3 is a perspective view `of an element of the yoke; and v n A, l-

j Fig. 4 isaview similar to Fig.l 2, but Yon a smaller scale, showing a modification. Y v .Y

Referring more particularly to the drawing, it A `will be seen that I have illustrated, in dotted outline, a meterA l0 having alignedv nipples 411 and 12, and a pair of parallelspaced pipe ends `13 and 14 to which said meter-nipples are respectively to be connected. The meter nipples are shown connected to the pipes 13jandy 14 through the medium of yokeelem'ents indicated generally at 15a-nd 15', respectively. .l

The elements 15 and 15' are identical, and consequently only one of such elements will be described in detail. Each yoke element consists of a tubular portion 16 which, in the illustrated embodiment, is shown as an elbow. One end 1'7 of the tubular portion 16 is internally threaded for engagement upon the threaded end of the pipe 13, whilethe other end 18 of the tubular portion 16 is unthreaded but is provided with a seat or cradle 19 for the reception of one of the meter nipples. 1

A downwardly inclined' arm 20 joins to said tubular portion a projection 21 which is radial with respect to the axis of the threaded end 17 of the tubular portion 16. The region 22 adjacent the extremity, of the projection 21 is reduced Y in thickness, and preferably such reduction is effected either bythe removal of the material of the projection 21 from one side thereof substantiallyto the center line thereofto form the socket 23, or by casting the element in a mold constructed to form the socket 23. `At any rate, the socket 23 is of such dimensions that one side of the reduced portion 22 lies ush with the corresponding side of the main body of the projection 21, Ywhile the opposite side of said portion lies substantially uponV the center line of the main body of the projection 21. A y.

Adjacent its extremity, the` reducedA portion 22 is formed with a'transverse aperture 24, and

Vat a point` spaced from said aperture, there is Vprovided a stud 25 projecting laterally fromV the 15 face of theportionf22 into the socket 23;v Y. Y The element .15' is, as has been said, an exact duplicate of Ythe element 15, and'primed refer- "ence numeralshave been applied to the element 15 in correspondence with the reference nu- 80. meralsapplied to the element 15 and mentioned herein above. y

It has. long been customary to mount meters between the'spaced ends of substantially parallel pipes by applying ,a .yokel togthe pipe ends, such yoke comprising a pair'of elbowsadapted to'be secured to the pipe ends, and a Vconnector 4bar separate from, but attachable to, said elbows.v f After the connector bar has been attached `to the elbows, the meter, to one nipple of which has beenl applied an expander, such as thatilf A -lustrated at 26, isset into the cradles of the elbows, and the -expander is operated to secure the' meter in place.` Obviously, the installation of suchia yoke comprises the steps of threading 9 5 the respective elbows onto the pipeends, then attaching one end of the connectorvtoone of the elbows, and then attaching the` other end ofthe connector to the other elbow. All of tlie'steps Vinvolved in such an installation except the step of threading the elbows ontothe pipe are eliminated by the present invention. As will be obvious, the present yoke may be installed by merely threading the elements 15 and 15 onto the pipes 13 and 14, respectively. The element 15 may, for instance, be threaded onto the pipe 13 and turned down tightly on said pipe. It may then be backed away one fourth of a revolution, or until the projection `21 is substantially perpendicular to the plane ofv Fig. 1. Thereafter, 1110 the element may be turned down onto the enters the aperture 24. The stresses which arel placed upon the yoke are all in the direction of the axes of the ends 18 andl8' of the tubular portions 16 and 16', and those stresses are readily resisted by the engagement of the studs 25 and 25' in the apertures 24' and 24. Y

It will also be obvious that the yoke of the present invention may be applied to the pipes 13 Y and 14 without the application of any dislocating stress to either of said pipes. Certain yokes which are on the market can be applied to the pipe ends only by forcing one pipe end or the other out of its 'normal position, and then forcing the pipe back into its normal position when the installation of the yyoke is to be completed.

While I have illustrated the present invenfton as applied to a yoke intended for connection to parallel pipe ends, it will be understood that the inventionrincludes also ,a form of yoke applicable to aligned pipe ends;

` Incase it is desired to provide a more secure connection for the projections 21, said projections may be formed, within the regions22, with registering apertures for the reception of a bolt 2'? and a clamp nut 28,'as shown in Fig. 4..

I claim as my invention:

' 1. A meter box yoke fcomprising an element `having a tubular portion threaded at one end for Vengagement withV a pipe end and provided at its opposite end withla seat -for the reception of a meter connection, a projection on said element, substantially parallel with the axis lof said lastmentioned end of said tubular portion, the region adjacent the extremity of said projection being reduced in thickness, a laterally projectingv stud formed on said reduced portion, an aperture formed in said reduced portion and spaced longitudinally from said stud; and a second element having a tubular portion threaded at one end for engagement with'a pipe end and provided at its opposite end with 'a seat for the reception of a meter connection, a projection on said second element'substantiallyl parallel, with the axis of said last-mentioned end of said tubular portion, the region adjacent the extremity of said projection being reduced in thickness, a laterally projecting stud formed on said reduced portion, an aperture formed in said reduced portion and spaced longitudinally from said stud; said reduced portions-of said projections beingeassociable to cause the stud on each'of said projections to enter theaperture of the Aother of saidprojections.

21A meter box yoke comprising an element having a tubular portion threaded at one end for engagement with a pipe end and provided at its opposite end with a seat for the reception of a meter connection, a projection on said element, substantially parallel with the axis of said last-mentioned end of said tubular portion, the region adjacent the extremity of said projection being reduced in thickness, a laterally projecting stud formed on said reduced portion; and a second element having a tubular portion threaded at one end for engagement with a pipe end and provided at its opposite end with a seat for the reception of a meter connection, a projection on said second element substantially parallel with the axis vof said last-mentioned end of said tubular portion, the region adjacent the extremity of saicl projection being reduced in thickness, an aperture formed in said reduced portion; said reduced portions of said projections being associable to cause saidstud to enter said aperture.

3. AThe combination with a pair of substantially parallel pipes, of means for maintaining a predetermined spacing between free ends of said pipes, comprising an element secured to the end of one of said pipes, and rotatable about the axis of said pipe, a projection on said element extending radially from the axis of said pipe, a second element secured to the end of the other of said pipes and'rotatable about the axis thereof, a projection on said second element extending radially from theaxis of said second-named pipe, and means carried by said projections, and interengageable by rotation of said projections into opposed alignment, to prevent relative movement of said elements in the direction of longitudinal extension of said projections.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a yoke element comprising a tubular portion threaded for engagement on a pipe end, a meter-connection seat associated with said tubularportion adjacent one end thereof, and a projection extending aperture.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a yoke element comprising a tubular portion threaded for engagement on a pipe end, an open-sided'meterconnection seat associated with said tubular portion adjacent one end thereof and adapted to receive aV Vmeter-connection by movement of said connection in a direction `transverse to the axis of t 

